By MARGOT BOYER
For The Beachcomber

Do you know what’s in your breakfast cereal? Do you want to choose what you eat? That’s what’s at stake in I-522, on the ballot soon to arrive in your mailbox.

I-522 would require food containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled, so you can choose whether to eat it or feed it to your family. Genetically engineered or GE organisms are produced when genetic information is manipulated using laboratory techniques, adding genes that did not develop inside that organism. Genetic engineering is a new process, very different from traditional plant breeding that farmers and gardeners have done for 10,000 years.

Common genetically engineered ingredients  are corn, soybeans and sugar beets. Most of the processed foods in the grocery store, like soda, soup, cereal, crackers, candy and thousands of other products, are made from GE sources. (Food labeled USDA Organic does not contain GE ingredients.)

Maybe you’re comfortable with genetically engineered food and feel that it’s a great thing for most of our food to be made from plants and animals that have been manipulated in laboratories. If so, clear labels will make it easy to choose the GE food you prefer, so vote for 522.

Or perhaps you have concerns about genetic engineering. Some of us have health questions, based on long-term animal studies that show chronic health problems associated with these crops. GE foods have been approved for sale without long-term human health studies. If you feel that these foods need more careful study, vote for 522 and you can decide whether they are safe enough for your own family.

Many of us are concerned about exposure to toxic chemicals in our food and our environment. We know that common GE crops like Roundup-Ready corn, genetically engineered to withstand spraying with glyphosate herbicide, have led to heavier use of this product. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated the annual use of glyphosate at over 200 million pounds in 2007 and this year actually increased the amount of glyphosate residue that is allowed in our food. If you think that increasing the amount of pesticide we eat might be a bad idea, vote for 522.

Those of us who like local food notice that when big corporations like Monsanto control seeds, fewer varieties are available for farmers and gardeners. On Vashon, we’re blessed with a network of local farmers who grow delicious and nourishing food in our rocky soil. We know the importance of healthy soil, flourishing ecosystems and genetic diversity in seeds. The old seed varieties, developed by farmers through traditional plant breeding, offer a wide array of traits that help plants grow even in difficult conditions such as drought, heat or flood.

These crops need to be grown out regularly so they will continue to be available when needed. When our food seeds are controlled by just a few companies, the seed that carries those adaptive traits can disappear rapidly.

We’ve lost more than 90 percent of the unique seed varieties that were available in 1903; instead we have fewer varieties of seed grown on thousands of acres of land. If you want your children and grandchildren to have a variety of food to choose from, vote for 522.

When we choose what to eat, we are also choosing a food system. Opponents of 522 —  Monsanto, DuPont, Bayer, Dow, and the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association — want our food system to depend on giant industrial farms and a narrow range of GE crops heavily sprayed with fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. It’s no accident that three of these top-five contributors are chemical companies; they make more money when GE crops are dominant.

Supporters of 522 envision a food system with farms of all sizes, raising many different crops, using the amazing varieties of edible plants and heirloom breeds that our ancestors developed through the generations. Such a diverse and locally-controlled food supply is a foundation of democracy. It’s the basis for a healthy economy, with decent jobs in rural communities like ours, as well as towns and cities. A diverse food system can give us the resilience to make it through hard times. It’s a resource that we can depend on.

We can choose what we want to eat and what kind of world we want to live in. Vote yes on I-522.

— Margot Boyer works in her family business on Vashon Island, making and distributing tools for sustainable agriculture.

Islanders supporting I-522 will host a music jam and presentation with several local musicians and speakers from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at the Land Trust Building.